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Drive Your Story

A drive trails project for interstate market recovery

Project Update July 2023

  • Printed maps: A total of 50,000 maps have been printed (10,000 for each trail). The drive trail maps continue to be distributed through the region’s visitor centres and participating member businesses (order your copies here).

Campaign Results

  • The first wave of campaign activity took place from April to August 2022. The paid social component of the campaign delivered 1,343,046 impressions and 7878 clicks. The Australian Traveller partnership had great cut through and produced over 3000 unique views with click through rates over 10%, which was well above their average. Coverage was also secured in the May/June/July print edition of Australian Traveller, with a readership of 168,000.
  • The second wave of campaign activity took place from February – April 2023. This phase focussed on the creation of social media video reel content. Paid social media activity reached 289,900 people and produced around 12,700 link clicks. Please view the campaign report and social strategy here.

A s travel returns post-Covid, the Margaret River Region is preparing to claim its place as a preferred destination for ‘High Value’ interstate travellers.

In order to stand out amidst a fiercely competitive domestic travel landscape, the local tourism industry in this region will need to collaborate more effectively than ever before. We must also be ready to engage this market from product development, right through to promotion.

The ‘Interstate Market Drive Trails’ project takes a holistic approach to interstate market recovery, through three streams of activity:

  • Marketing campaign activity to ensure that this destination stands out as desirable above others.
  • Training and development to ensure the best possible visitor experience and positive word of mouth.
  • Digital marketing mentoring to ensure the region’s prominence in the competitive online landscape.

Further details are available in the industry project brochure.

The Drive Trails

Furthering the work to evolve the destination brand and establish unique identities for the region’s town and city localities, five drive trails have been created with the aim of:

  • Fostering travel preference for the region against competitor destination
  • Positioning the region as much more than a two-night destination (current average length of stay for interstate visitors)
  • Curating the visitor experience for visitors with a low awareness/understanding of the region

Drive Your Story is the consumer campaign concept which will be used to promote the drive trails.

Drive Your Story: Key Consumer Messages

  • A curated collection of five coast and country drive trails guiding you towards the parts of the Margaret River Region you’re looking for, and the parts you didn’t expect.
  • Whether you are driving from Perth to Margaret River
    or flying straight into Busselton Margaret River Airport, see more of what matters with these recommended routes to take in your own time.
  • Follow them to the letter or use them as your North Star to get
    back on track if you’ve wandered off the beaten path (and we hope you do).
  • Linger a little longer to bask in the glow of sunset then bring home a story that’s all your own.

Participating Businesses

Busselton

  • Abbey Beach Resort
  • Broadwater Resort
  • Busselton Jetty
  • Discover Deadly
  • Gravity Etc
  • The National Trust of Western Australia – Wonnerup House
  • Forest Adventures South West
  • Shelter Brewing Co.
  • The Sophisticated Beast
  • Origins Market
  • Gannaways Charters and Tours
  • Forage Safaris
  • After Hours Wine
  • Flametree Wines Cellar Door
  • Whicher Ridge Wines

Dunsborough

  • Private Properties Holiday Homes
  • Pullman Bunker Bay Resort
  • Smiths Beach Resort
  • Wyadup Brook Cottages
  • Ngilgi Cave
  • Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse
  • Eagle Bay Brewing Co
  • Wild Hop Brewing Company
  • Gabriel Chocolate
  • Yallingup Cheese Company
  • Lagoon Yallingup
  • South West Eco Discoveries
  • Happs Wines
  • Commonage Pottery
  • Marri Wood Park Biodynamic Vineyard
  • Swings & Roundabouts – Yallingup
  • Windows Estate
  • Wills Domain Pty
  • Koomal Dreaming

Cowaramup

  • Beerfarm
  • Churchview Estate
  • Cape Lodge
  • Eight Willows Retreat
  • Margaret River Nuts and Cereals/WOW Illusions
  • Black Brewing Co
  • Cowaramup Brewing Company
  • The Grove Distillery
  • Three Lily’s Gin
  • Bettenays Wines & Margaret River Nougat
  • The Margaret River Chocolate Company
  • Margaret River Providore
  • Vasse Virgin
  • Southern Forests Honey/The Colony Concept
  • Cape Grace Wines
  • Cullen Wines
  • Domaine Naturaliste
  • Fermoy Estate
  • Howard Park Wines
  • Clairault Streicker Wines
  • The Nookery Cafe (& Woody Nook Wines)
  • Woodlands Wines
  • Fraser Gallop Estate

Margaret River

  • Swings & Roundabouts – Margaret River
  • Margaret River B&B
  • Margaret River Holiday Cottages
  • The National Trust of Western Australia – Ellensbrook at Mokidup
  • Margaret River Fudge Factory
  • Yahava KoffeeWorks Margaret River
  • Margaret River Farmers Market
  • Jesters Flat
  • Margaret River Discovery Co
  • Standup Surfing
  • Walk Talk Taste Margaret River
  • Brown Hill Estate
  • Jarvis Estate
  • Voyager Estate
  • Xanadu Wines
  • Cape Mentelle Vineyards
  • Mchenry Hohnen Cellar Door
  • Eagles Heritage
  • JahRoc Galleries

Augusta

  • Eco Adventures Margaret River
  • Glenarty Road
  • The Colour Patch
  • Experience Augusta
  • Jewel Cave
  • Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Promotional Plan

Details of the promotional plan can be found in the campaign toolkit.

Key milestones for the campaign include:

  • April 2022
  • May 2022
    • Social media launch – MRBTA channels and participating businesses
    • VFR (visiting friends & relatives) market social media competition
    • Printed collateral available via the Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River Visitor Centres and via participating businesses.
  • May – August 2022
    • Australian Traveller media partnership
    • Ongoing in-person and digital promotion via MRBTA and participating businesses
  • August – December 2022
    • Ongoing organic promotion via partner websites
    • Print collateral distribution
  • February – April 2023
    • Social media video reels campaign
View the Campaign Toolkit

Acknowledgement

This project has received funding from the Australian Government under the Recovery for Regional Tourism program, an initiative of the $1 billion COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund.

 

Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association